Those Rules Don't Apply
by Evilvampirebunny
Summary: Sasuke never imagined that everyone would suddenly turn into flesh eating zombies, but when it happens, after watching his mother, father, and brother die protecting him, he vows that he will protect his friends, so he gets his friends together and they hide in the High School. Sasuke gets infected but he and Shikamaru are working on a cure. AU. Zombie Apocalypse. Incest. Yaoi.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: ***Sighs* If I owned anything why would I be sitting here writing this and posting it here at 4am?

**Warning:** Death, Violence, Swearing, Incest, Yaoi.

* * *

"_In recent news we have reports of people behaving, well strangely after taking a drug believed to be a cure for cancer. Unfortunate for them it had dangerous side effects. At first, the patients were fine, all cancerous cells seemed to be gone, but their body and mental state would slowly deteriorate. Scientists tried their best to come up with a cure to this, but again, results were not what they expected. The cure they had concocted only proved to make them worse. Patients became ravenous, vicious, developing cravings for human flesh. They would go to extreme lengths to get it, many bit their own doctors, and those doctors found themselves in the same condition as the patients. Join us next week for an update. I'm Kurenai Yuhi, and this has been News Weekly."_

* * *

"_Authorities struggle to get the dangerous patients from the hospital and to a quarantined area. The dangerous, vicious people are now running rampant through the streets while authorities try their best to help us be safe again. People are warned to stay indoors. I'm Kurenai Yuhi, join me next week."_

* * *

"_It has been over a week since the epidemic. Over 10 000 people had been infected, and those numbers have only risen. I'm Kurenai Yuhi, and this will be my last broadcast. Good luck to anyone still out there."_

* * *

The morning sun shone brightly into the room through the windows, casting a glow over the teens in the room.

With a mournful sigh Sasuke threw the blanket off his body, rising to a sitting position as his eyes roamed around, seeing his fellow survivors. He would have been happy to know that anyone had survived but he was even happier it was his friends he had with him.

"Where's Suigetsu?" He questioned, noticing automatically that everyone other than the pale haired boy was there.

"He went out for supplies," Someone informed him. Sasuke nodded, accepting the information, but then realized something. If Suigetsu was the only one missing that meant he was alone.

"You let him go alone?" He demanded harshly, standing up and heading towards the door. No one answered him, but all eyes where on him.

"Where are you going?" Someone questioned, but Sasuke ignored the question.

Sasuke paused briefly, wondering if this would be the last time he ever saw the group. Every time they separated, he wondered that. He wanted to stay, protect the others, but Suigetsu was alone, he was more vulnerable than they. Suigetsu had a habit of being reckless; the others at least had a chance with Shikamaru around to be the rational, planning one.

He turned, his eyes sweeping over everyone. He didn't know why but he just felt like crying as he looked over his friends, but he would never do that in front of them. They wouldn't see him cry. Hell, they wouldn't see any emotion from him unless it was confidence. He was their unofficial leader; he needed to be strong for them.

Gaara, with his bright red hair, sea foam green eyes, and emotionless exterior.

Naruto, with his big blue eyes, blonde hair, and huge smile.

Karin, with her vibrant red hair, and protective nature.

Shikamaru, with his pineapple styled hair, and lazy attitude.

Ino, with her long blonde hair, blue eyes, and delicate nature.

And Juugo, with his orange hair, and dreams of peace.

They weren't his real family but they were close enough to it. With that in his mind he ended up thinking of other things he would rather not, like, his mother, his father, his brother, and _that_day.

* * *

"_Run, Sasuke! Run!" He heard the panicked voice of his mother, but he didn't listen. He didn't run. He just stood there and stared. He couldn't tear his gaze from what was happening in front of him. His mother and father being attacked by weird looking people. They didn't speak, they were just making these odd noises, and they were moving weirdly. He blinked, remembering the recent News Broadcast he had watched. There had been a special about these types of people._

_Zombies. Zombies were attacking his parents. _

_How had they gotten into his home? Where was his brother?_

"_Sasuke, go," He heard his father order, and he truly tried to go, but his body wasn't cooperating. He couldn't get himself to move. He just continued to watch. _

_Blood and flesh was flying everywhere, some hitting the walls, some the floor, some even reaching Sasuke._

* * *

"I'm going to find Suigetsu," he informed them. Some seemed worried, some seemed unaffected, but he knew they each wished he didn't have to leave. They wished Suigetsu hadn't left either. They wished everyone could stay there, in their safe little haven.

Most of all, they each wished this was some sick dream.

But wishes were useless. Wishing and dreaming did nothing but give false hopes. It just set people up for disappointment.

Fuck wishes. Fuck dreams.

There are a few calls of, "See you later", but no one says "goodbye", because to the group, "goodbye" is taboo. No one wants it to be a goodbye, everybody hopes for each other to return – safe and unharmed is preferred – so "goodbye" isn't said.

Tonight though, Sasuke feels like it is goodbye. And so, he says softly, making sure the others don't hear it, "Goodbye," With that he left, making his way swiftly through the school hallways.


	2. Chapter 2

Sasuke flinched slightly as he heard the familiar moans and snarls coming from the shuffling hordes of zombies. To his relief, they passed right by him, where he hid in an abandoned car. They could smell him and he knew it – unfortunately for him, he could smell them too, the smell was repugnant – they just weren't smart enough to figure out where he was so they simply walked around, having only one thought; food.

As he watched them, seeing their gruesome faces, ripped clothes, and hearing their wails, he couldn't help but pity them. No matter how horrid these people have been he really wouldn't wish a fate like this on anyone, though he couldn't figure out which was actually worse, being a zombie or a survivor. Both were bad in their own ways.

He hadn't realized how long had past as he had simply been laying there in the backseat of the car, staring up at the ceiling, lost in thought, until there was the loud sound of clanging metal. Cautiously, he sat up, his eyes scanning the area around the car, and he couldn't help but chuckle when he saw a zombie had just run into a garbage can, knocking it to the ground and now was just staring down at it. He noted too that the sun was going down. The day was dangerous, but at night was Hell. Zombies preferred the night, so he had to find Suigetsu, quickly. When he turned back towards the other window, taking a final search before he left the car he saw the face of zombie staring back at him.

With a gasp he leapt away from the window in shock, while the creature began wailing loudly and beating on the window. To say he was annoyed would be an extreme understatement, if that thing continued then every zombie around would be swarming the car and he would never get out, so he took a chance and leapt out the other side of the car, and began running furiously down the street, his eyes scanning for danger as he went.

The good thing about zombies; they can't keep up. Running is a struggle for them, and if a chase lasts too long they just give up. Sasuke slipped into an alley, leaning against the brick wall, and allowing himself a brief moment of relief.

His relief didn't last long though because there was the sound of running feet then a voice yelling a few curses, and it sounded like Suigetsu. He turned and started to leave the alleyway, but before he could get far he saw Suigetsu run by with zombies chasing after him.

For a moment Sasuke just froze. But seeing that made him lose his cool, and he panicked.

"Suigetsu!" Sasuke screamed his lover's name as he tore through the empty streets in the direction he had just seen Suigetsu and the zombies go. He knew it was reckless and the more noise he made the more likely he was to end up dead but at that moment he was panicking and needed to find Suigetsu before he could be in his right state of mind again.

He was unaware of the eyes that watched him from the roof of the building he was running around.

At first he had been panicked, now he was nearing hysteria. "Suigetsu!" He screamed again.

"Sasuke," he heard a distressed voice reply. Not caring what might be waiting for him his running sped up. He found himself on the other side of the building to see his friend being surrounded by the zombies. It seemed some zombie friends had joined them because now there were nearly a dozen.

All rational thought left him and he threw himself forward into the mayhem, brandishing a gun in one hand while the other grabbed the heavy metal industrial flashlight he had and he started swinging it harshly at the heads of the zombies while shooting off rounds into others heads. Suigetsu too started fighting back now that he wasn't entirely doomed. Once the pair was safe they found themselves unceremoniously dropping their weapons and clutching each other in a tight hug.

"Suigetsu, I was so scared," Sasuke admitted breathlessly.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you," Suigetsu kept whispering. Sasuke's lip trembled as he fought back tears. He had come so close to losing Suigetsu and it had hit him hard. Sasuke buried his face in Suigetsu's shoulder, his tears finally dripping down his face. Suigetsu didn't notice, but Sasuke did, a soft thumping sound, like footsteps, and heavy breathing and it sounded close by. How hadn't he noticed this until then?

Panicked, Sasuke looked up to meet the eyes of zombie standing right there, reaching out to swipe at Suigetsu.

"No," Sasuke exclaimed, spinning themselves around so he took the swipe rather than Suigetsu. A soft cry of pain slipped from his lips as he pushed Suigetsu away, his other hand shooting out behind him, smacking the zombie, making it stumble back; he then reached for his gun nearby on the ground, putting a bullet in its head.

He looked to his arm where he had taken the hit and he saw gruesome looking cuts. Damn zombies and their sharp nails.

"Oh god," he whimpered pathetically, bringing his other hand up to rest it gently on the wound. He tried to stop the shaking but couldn't and so in his frustration and weakness he yelled out, "Fuck," turning to a nearby wall and punching it furiously.

"Sasuke, calm down." Suigetsu spoke warily, placing a hand on the spiky haired boy's shoulder. Sasuke froze, and then slowly turned to Suigetsu, "Kill me, please," he begged.

"Hey, you and Shikamaru are figuring out that cure right? You'll be fine." Suigetsu said fiercely, not wanting to admit that Sasuke could die from this.

"Fine, whatever," Sasuke said, giving in quickly due to fear that more zombies might show up. "Come on, let's get back to the others," he ordered, taking Suigetsu's hand in his as he started back towards where he had come.

On their trek back to the High School they didn't meet up with any zombies, and they didn't notice the people following them. Well, Suigetsu didn't notice, Sasuke ignored them because they hadn't done anything yet and he was curious.

When they got to the High School the mysterious group still followed them and Suigetsu finally noticed them.

"Hey, Sasuke, there's people following us, right?" Suigetsu questioned quietly as he walked alongside his lover, feeling safe in the school because they knew there were no zombies inside. There was only one entrance open and only a human would be able to get through it.

"Yes, just be quiet and act like you haven't noticed," Sasuke ordered calmly. Suigetsu just gave Sasuke's hand a squeeze and kept quiet, showing no signs that he knew of the people following.

Just as he would if he were returning any other time, Suigetsu called out happily, "We're back," as they went down the last hall towards the art room where their group stayed. The hallway was suddenly filled with excited teens as they call came to greet Sasuke and Suigetsu. Voices echoed around them as people tried to speak over each other.

"You're both okay?"

"We were worried."

"Welcome back."

"Did you find anyone else?"

"Were you attacked?"

"Did you get more supplies?"

All at once these questions were shot at the pair, but they stayed silent, not answering since they were unsure of who asked which question, they wanted to inform them of the people that had followed them, and they didn't want to be talking over the others.

"Oh, Sasuke," Karin exclaimed worriedly, her eyes wide as she stepped forward, her hand gently touching the wound on his arm. He flinched slightly, but otherwise gave no response. Everyone was silent as they all stared at the wound, knowing exactly what it was.

"Hey, relax everyone," Naruto exclaimed loudly, laughing, "Shikamaru and Sasuke are close to figuring out a cure. Sasuke will be okay."

There were nods and words of agreement before everything was silent again. All that could be heard was breathing as they all looked each other. Finally, Sasuke spoke, his voice soft, as he looked over his shoulder, "There's a group that followed us here. Judging from the footsteps I'd heard there are about a dozen of them. I'm not sure who they are, or what they want, but they haven't done anything yet, and it doesn't seem like they're going to, so what are we going to do?" Sasuke normally wasn't one to ask for directions from others since he was the 'leader', but he wasn't exactly the best with people so he was open to suggestions.

Gaara just shrugged, his indifferent mask staying in place, Naruto's smile widened as he realized there were more survivors, Ino giggled excitedly at the thought of cute boys, Karin pouted at the thought of girls who might be all over Sasuke, Juugo stayed silent, seeming entirely uninterested, and Shikamaru was the one to offer up a solution,

"Why don't we just confront them? Ask them what they want?"

"Could work," Sasuke agreed, looking around the group. No one said anything in disagreement so Sasuke nodded, then turned around, walking towards where he thought the group to be hiding, saying faintly, "Come on then."


	3. Chapter 3

"Who are you and why did you follow us?" Sasuke questioned, getting straight to the point as he and his friends drew closer to the other group.

"Ah, so you did notice us," Came the voice of an orange haired, pierced man as he stepped forward, giving them a better view now that he wasn't shrouded with shadows. Following his lead, the others stepped out too.

Sasuke noted that they all wore the same black cloak with red clouds, and some wore straw hats with white strings hanging down, it was strange but at least then they could find each other easily if they needed.

"We noticed you long before we got back here. We were just curious about you so we let you follow us. Now, I'm asking again, what do you want?" Sasuke demanded, glaring at the man.

"Sasuke, be nice," Shikamaru said warningly as he placed a hand on the raven haired boy's shoulder. Sasuke rolled his eyes but then nodded, allowing Shikamaru to take the lead.

"Sorry about ice princess here. Has a real bad temper, too moody but Sasuke's smart, and a good fighter so we keep him around," Shikamaru said playfully. A few chuckles came from the members of the other group, while their own showed no reaction since they were used to Shikamaru and Sasuke insulting each other.

"Fuck you," Sasuke said simply.

"Are you offering?" Shikamaru questioned, smirking slightly. At this Suigetsu stepped forward, putting an arm around Sasuke, "Nah, that's what I'm here for, eh Sasuke?"

"I'm surrounded by idiots," Sasuke grumbled, his glare worsening.

Seconds later there was the sound of growls and moans.

"They're here," Suigetsu said in shock.

"What the hell? How did they get in?" Shikamaru questioned, sounding confused. Then it dawned on Sasuke, the strange group had entered after them and they probably hadn't returned things to how they were at the entrance.

"When they came in..." Sasuke said, gesturing towards the group, before trailing off since understanding had dawned on everyone's face just from those words.

"We're sorry," the pierced man started, sounding sincere, but Sasuke cut in before he could say more,

"Be sorry later. For right now, run," he ordered before he turned, grabbing Suigetsu's hand and heading down the hall to the art room. The others were hot on their heels. Sasuke let the others enter first, before starting to follow inside but stopped, watching incredulously as Suigetsu turned and ran towards the oncoming zombies.

"What are you doing?" He yelled angrily.

"There's not that many, we can take them," Suigetsu said confidently as he took a few down. Before Sasuke or Suigetsu could react more were pouring down the hallway, their ravenous wails meeting their ears as they fixed their hungry gazes on the pale haired, and raven haired boy.

Most went for Suigetsu but some were heading for Sasuke so he quickly pulled out his gun, shooting a couple, as he started to move forward, but he felt hands on him, pulling him back and into the art room.

For a moment he couldn't speak, he couldn't comprehend what they were doing but he finally found his voice, "The hell? Let me go!"

They didn't listen.

"Suigetsu!" Sasuke found himself hysterically screaming his lover's name for the second time that day as he was forcibly dragged into a room. Before the door slammed shut his eyes met Suigetsu's and he swore he saw a tear.

"What the hell do you think you're doing? He's still out there," Sasuke yelled, lashing out at anyone that came near him, trying his hardest to get to the door, though it probably wouldn't matter since both Gaara and Naruto stood in front of the door, plus Shikamaru and a strange looking, blue haired, blue tint skinned man had tight holds on him.

Tears were running freely down his face and even though he was supposed to be the 'leader' of the group he ignored responsibility, he ignored the rules he had established himself and he struggled.

Finally, his legs simply gave out on him, and he let his arms fall limply, he would have fell to the ground had it not been for the arms wrapped around him, holding him up. He felt one pair of arms let go and he assumed it was the blue man's.

"Please," he begged, his breath coming in uneven gasps.

"No." A harsh voice said, finality ringing in the words.

Sasuke though, found a burst of energy as he heard that and he again began fighting the arms that held him.

"Fuck you! I have to help him! He could be alive out there right now! I need to go! Let me go!" The arms restricting him finally let go and he stumbled forward, landing on his knees. For a moment he just sat there, his anger going away, being replaced by sorrow, pain, and regret.

"Please, please, please," he repeated over and over, begging them to let him go. Couldn't they understand that he _needed_ to go? He knew he wouldn't get past Naruto and Gaara with the others there to help keep him back if needed so he just resorted to begging.

"Sasuke, just forget him. If he wasn't dead, then he is now. A fresh wave just attacked, they got him already, we both know it," Shikamaru told him, a pang of guilt flooding through him as he thought of how ruthlessly they had left Suigetsu. He didn't want to do it, but they couldn't risk the whole group all for Suigetsu, that had been their only option.

"I can't just forget him," Sasuke argued. "He's strong, and he's alive right now. There's no way he let himself get bitten, he's not dumb enough to do that. He would have shot himself before that could happen, so he's either _dead dead_ or he's alive right now." They all knew that Sasuke was right, though they weren't going to admit it, but he gave none of them time to argue back anyway. He spoke quickly, "I need to know, please." This time, the negative responses didn't come as quickly as they had been before. Everyone's heart was beating wildly, they were all regretful for leaving Suigetsu, but they all – apart from Sasuke – realized that they had done the safest thing.

"No," Someone finally denied Sasuke's plea again. Sasuke had went from hysterical, to angry, to sad, to angry again, then back to sad, but the emotion he showed next wasn't what any of them were expecting.

He rose to his feet, spinning to the person that had spoke, Shikamaru, his eyes were wild, and his voice held a dangerous ring as he yelled out, "You don't understand! None of you get it! I _need_ to know," a sound of desperation mixed into his voice as he continued, "I stood by and watched when my parents died! I didn't do anything! I just stood there! They yelled for me to run! They died protecting me! I did _nothing_ for them! But I can do something for Suigetsu! I can help him!"

Everything he had previously shown was now replaced by pure sorrow. He was broken, that much was obvious now; they all just wondered how they could have been so oblivious to how the raven haired boy had felt up until now. Again, he gave no one a chance to speak, he just continued, his tears flowing again,

"The only reason I'm alive right now is because of my brother. He showed up, he protected me, even though I didn't deserve it, he saved me. But then I just ran, I left him alone facing those _things_! I was useless! I couldn't do anything to protect myself, I couldn't protect my parents, I couldn't protect my brother! I didn't even try is the worst part though! They got my brother too, and it was my entire fault. He was always so smart, and he would have been okay, I know it. He was a survivor, but he just got reckless and tried to save me." He stopped speaking for a moment, struggling to calm himself some before he continued. "Suigetsu actually deserves to have people that will die protecting him. I can do something this time! My job now is to protect you all. I'm not going to be useless again. I couldn't save them, but I'm going to save you – all of you. I'll die for each of you. I'd rather face every fucking zombie out there all on my own than have to lose one of you. So please, please, let me go, Suigetsu needs help. He needs me, and if I just leave him then that means nothing's changed, it means I'm still the same pathetic kid I was 3 years ago, so please."

To say Sasuke's group was shocked would be an understatement, they knew he cared for Suigetsu, and they knew his brother and parents were dead, they just didn't know what had happened.

"Don't make me leave him when he needs me most," Sasuke pleaded, falling forward as he wrapped his arms around his torso and let his forehead rest on the ground, his tears spilling down his cheeks to create tiny puddles on the floor.

Unknown to Sasuke his brother sat nearby, tears in his eyes, as his little brother's speech ended.


	4. Chapter 4

**Characters ages:**

-Karin, Ino – 16  
-Sasuke, Naruto – 17  
-Suigetsu, Shikamaru, Gaara – 18  
-Konan, Deidara, Kankuro, Juugo – 19  
**-**Temari – 20  
-Itachi, Sasori – 21  
-Pein, Hidan – 22  
-Kisame, Kakuzu – 24

* * *

After more begging and pleading but no consent Sasuke gave up and simply lay his head in Juugo's lap as his tears continued. The girls – apart from Konan and Temari – crowded around him, whispering words of comfort, but he ignored them. He ignored everything. All he could think about was Suigetsu, his smile, his laugh, his voice, and finally, the look on Suigetsu's face as his friends had left him behind.

"Here, Sasuke," Karin spoke softly as she held out a cup to him. Finally, he acknowledged someone; he gave her a nod then sat up and took the cup from his hands, quickly drinking it, as he knew what it was for. Karin was helping him in the only way she knew how; she was going to give him the comfort of sleep.

Right about now Sasuke was grateful for the recent stock up on medicine and pills. Sleeping pills were a wonderful thing.

A few minutes later Sasuke was sleeping peacefully with his head on Juugo's shoulder.

As soon as Sasuke was asleep Shikamaru found himself being verbally attacked by the majority of his group – the majority being, Ino, Karin, and Naruto, while Juugo and Gaara watched quietly.

The three pleaded with the lazy genius, "Please, just let Sasuke go see," Ino started, while Karin continued for her, "Once he sees that Suigetsu is already dead he will be able to get over it," and Naruto finished off, "If you don't let him then he won't ever let this go."

Shikamaru knew they were right, he wouldn't let it go, but he didn't know how seeing a dead Suigetsu – or worse, a zombiefied Suigetsu – would affect Sasuke.

"I've never seen Sasuke get so upset. Hell, I've never seen him show so many emotions," Naruto told Shikamaru, seeming close to tears himself. He looked over his shoulder to the sleeping raven, and questioned, "Please?"

Ino and Karin sat on either side, looking at Shikamaru with full on pouts. After what had to of been at least an hour of staring and pouting, he decided he had enough.

"Alright, if you three will leave me alone once he wakes up he can go check," Shikamaru relented.

"Thank you," Karin and Ino squealed happily as they hugged Shikamaru tightly. Naruto grinned hugely, giving Shikamaru a thumbs up, who just sighed in return.

Sasuke had always been a light sleeper and even with the sleeping pills mixed into his drink he was woken by the squeals and laughter.

"Shut up," He hissed towards the excited girls, and snuggled closer to Juugo. Juugo smiled faintly and stroked the spiky black hair while Shikamaru smirked, "Good morning, princess."

"Go to hell," Was the polite reply Sasuke gave him as he sat up, glaring at Shikamaru.

A look of confusion flittered across his face as he noticed the unfamiliar people but then all the memories hit him – Suigetsu leaving alone, going after him, being followed, getting attacked in the school, Suigetsu being left behind, having a break down – and he was instantly filled with pain and sorrow.

Ino and Karin were at his side, hugging him tightly as they spoke excitedly, "Shikamaru agreed to let you go out there!"

"Will be too fucking late now anyway," Sasuke hissed pessimistically as he moved away from the clingy, loud females, choosing to take a seat near Gaara. He always enjoyed being around Gaara because he kept the girls away.

"Wasn't it you that always bragged about how smart and strong Suigetsu was? Granted, your opinion of him is a bit biased but you're mostly right about him. He must be okay if he's as great as you think," Naruto said smugly, since he knew there was no way Sasuke could spin that in a negative way.

"I don't recall ever saying Suigetsu was smart. He's an idiot," Sasuke said back, as he rose to his feet, instantly heading towards the door.

"I'll be back," he called out. Naruto got up too, following him towards the door. Sasuke stopped as he heard the familiar footsteps of Naruto, and he stated simply, "No," not even bothering to turn around.

"Come on, I can help! Please, bring me with you," Naruto pleaded. Sasuke sighed, not wanting to waste time arguing with the blonde. He turned to face Naruto, saying fiercely, "If I tell you to run, you run. If I tell you to come back here, you go. If I say anything, you fucking listen, okay?"

Naruto just nodded, not paying much attention to Sasuke's words, he was focused on his happiness about his victory. Sasuke seemed to notice this and he glared at the blonde, speaking again, "Naruto, I'm serious. You're the closest thing I have to a brother since I lost Itachi, so I don't want anything happening to you, okay?" This time, Naruto listened.

"Sasuke, man, you're going to make me cry. Can we just go and not have all this mushy stuff?" Naruto questioned, struggling not to cry.

"Whatever, loser," Sasuke muttered, pulling the blonde into a tight hug. Naruto hugged back, not being able to resist saying it anymore, "Love you,"

"Love you too, loser," Was Sasuke's insulting yet loving response.

"That was so cute," Ino exclaimed, giggling as she moved towards them, planning to hug the both of them. Sasuke hated hugs, Naruto loved hugs, but they both greed, Ino's hugs were bad news and were to be avoided at all costs.

"Bye, Ino," They both called, quickly leaving the room. Ino pouted slightly but got over it as she went back to Shikamaru's side.


	5. Chapter 5

Gaara frowned slightly, wishing Naruto hadn't gone, but he knew that the blonde wouldn't have listened even if he begged him to stay. With a sad sigh he decided to attempt to get some sleep, so he rose from his seated position against the wall and went to where the sleeping bags were set up, crawling into the one he normally shared with Naruto. He relaxed, breathing in the sweet scent of Naruto as it washed over him thanks to the lingering smell on the sleeping bag.

Creepy? Maybe, but Gaara didn't care. No matter what, Naruto always gave off the scent of honey and chocolate and it was delicious to the redhead. He couldn't wait to have his little blonde cuddling with him again though. With a sigh, he moved his thoughts to less lonely things, he thought of life before the zombie epidemic, the everyday mundane activities, school work, teachers, and he slowly found himself slipping into unconsciousness, finding himself in a dream where everything was normal.

Karin lay curled up in a ball with her sleeping bag tightly around her. She didn't know why but ever since Sasuke and Naruto had left she had gotten a bad feeling in her stomach. Lately, they just seemed to have bad luck and she just wanted all her friends to be safe there with her. Then again, were they really ever safe? How did they know that one of these days a wave of zombies wouldn't attack and actually get them? Before she could think too much she forced those thoughts from her mind.

To occupy the time until she finally just fell asleep she rolled over to look at Juugo, letting her eyes roam his strong appearance, smiling as she drifted into unconsciousness, dreaming of a life with him free of danger, free of the pain, free of the hurt. She dreamt of a two story house, with a white picket fence, and their baby, a perfect mixture of her and Juugo.

Juugo hummed softly to himself, trying to be inconspicuous about it as he watched the strange group that had yet to be introduced, or tell anything of their motives for following Sasuke and Suigetsu. Perhaps they just thought an even larger group would be safer? And what was with the cloaks and hats? Questions, Juugo had, but answers, he didn't. His eyes twitched in annoyance, and he tried to think of other things before he got too bothered by his emotions.

He went to the window, gazing out at the night sky, marveling at the beauty of the moon and stars. For a moment he could imagine that there weren't ravenous zombies intent on eating them, he could pretend he was at home, looking out his own window. With a sad sigh he moved from the window going to a table where a laptop sat along with a radio, walkie-talkies, cell phones, and an iPod. He grabbed the iPod, making sure he got the headphones from the pocket of one of the backpacks and he snuggled up in his own sleeping bag, letting the music lull him into unconsciousness.

Ino sat quietly, gazing into Shikamaru's eyes as he too simply watched her. She had never noticed before how beautiful he was. She loved the way the moonlight reflected in chocolate brown eyes. She adored the way the skin between his eyebrows would crease when he thought hard, and she loved the way his hands were rough yet smooth and gentle at the same time. She was unsure of when she started feeling more than friendly towards Shikamaru but she knew it wasn't something she could stop any more.

Risking rejection, and the loss of a friendship, she leaned towards Shikamaru connecting her lips with his as she moved closer to him, practically sitting in his lap. To her shock and pleasure, Shikamaru kissed her back.

Shikamaru sat quietly, wondering why Ino had been acting differently towards him lately. He briefly wondered if she found out about his feelings for her, but he quickly dismissed that, because he had hidden it too well for her to know this quickly. He knew he shouldn't allow himself to be so entirely focused on Ino when they had just been joined by a bunch of strangers but he found himself getting lost in her eyes, loving the way they twinkled when she smiled. He noted that she seemed nervous, and he was going to question her about it, but before he had a chance he felt warm lips against his own.

The kiss sent shivers through him, and he wrapped his arms around Ino's curvy body, pressing her against him as close as he could as they kissed, their tongues beginning a passionate dance. Eventually, they both pulled back, needing air, and they simply looked at each other again as they caught their breath. Their moment was interrupted as a yawn came from Ino though, she blinked sleepily at him, and for a moment she reminded him of a kitty. "Come on, let's get some sleep," he suggested, standing up, with her still held close against him. He situated the both of them in one of the sleeping bags, pressing a kiss to her soft, pink lips. A small smile graced his features as he remembered the song his mother would sing to him when he was a child. "Soft kitty, warm kitty, little ball of fur kitty, happy kitty, sleepy kitty, purr, purr, purr... Night Kitty." Shikamaru sang softly as she slipped into unconsciousness then bid her goodnight, pressing a gentle kiss to her cheek before he let out a yawn of his own and he too went to sleep.

"Are they all asleep?" The orange haired man, Pein, questioned. Konan rose gracefully and quietly moved to see if they were asleep, she then sent a nod to Pein, returning to her spot at his side. With that confirmation the others gathered around, forming a loose circle.

"Itachi, Temari, Kankuro, whenever you're ready you may reveal to your younger sibling who you are. If you choose not to then the rest of us may not interfere," Pein stated, looking specifically at Kisame, Hidan, and Deidara. They were the 'troublemakers' of their group and were always getting involved in things they shouldn't. It was quite annoying, but they all cared for each other anyway. Much like Sasuke's group, they were a little family.

"I want to tell him once everyone is here and awake." Temari stated, sounding firm in her decision. Kankuro just smiled and nodded his agreement. All eyes turned to him, expecting something, so he quickly said,

"My brother is not to find out who I am." There were sounds of protest, but that was quickly stopped by a sharp hiss of, "Silence," from Pein. Konan giggled slightly, enjoying the way they all listened to Pein.

"May I inquire why, Itachi?" Pein questioned, ignoring Konan's giggling.

"I just feel as if he may be even more upset knowing that I've been alive the past few years because he felt guilty about it for so long," Itachi explained calmly.

"So, are you going to talk to him, or just ignore him, un?" Deidara questioned curiously, waiting for Itachi's answer.

"He's my little brother, I love him, and there's no way I'll be ignoring him. I'll just have to be a friend, not a big brother." Itachi replied, struggling to keep his sadness from showing a she said the last part.

"We should end this before the brats get back, or someone wakes up." Kakuzu warned, sounding slightly uneasy.

"You're right," Pein began, "We will discuss again soon, do try to be friendly, if we want them to share their secrets of the cure, we need them to be our friends," he reminded the group. There were nods and murmurs of their understanding as they all went back to where they had been. Pein and Konan occupying a couch that sat in the room against the wall – briefly he wondered how the teens had gotten it there, then decided it didn't matter – while Sasori and Deidara went off to make out in the corner. Kisame sat on a chair by the window, his eyes tracing the constellations in the stars, while Kakuzu and Hidan sat next to each other with their backs to the wall. Itachi stood against the wall, his arms folded as he stared intently at the door, waiting for his little brother to return.

Much to Itachi's relief, the sound of voices could soon be heard, and it was clearly Naruto's. The door burst open and in waltzed an excited blonde and smug Sasuke with the pale haired, Suigetsu in his arms.

Juugo who was a light sleeper had woken as soon as the three had entered so he quickly woke the others up, informing them that Naruto, Sasuke, and Suigetsu were back.

Naruto closed the door behind their little group, before he moved across the room, grabbing a blanket from a pile and spreading it out over a table. Sasuke flashed him a grateful smile then placed Suigetsu on it, whom let out a groan of pain.

"Be gentle, Sasuke," Suigetsu complained. Sasuke just glared, "It's your fault you're hurt. You should have just come back into the damn room like everybody else, idiot." Although he sounded angry, and the look on his face showed anger, Suigetsu knew that Sasuke was scared, he could tell as he looked into his lover's eyes.

"So how did you not become zombie food?" Shikamaru voiced the question that had been in everybody's mind. After hearing that, Naruto, and Sasuke started laughing, while Suigetsu just gave a slight grin.

"The crazy bastard decided it was a good idea to hide himself underneath a bunch of dead zombie bodies," Naruto explained.

"Well it worked," Suigetsu replied smugly. Sasuke just laughed and pressed a kiss to Suigetsu's temple, "Can you do me a favor and stop trying to get yourself killed?" He questioned playfully.

"How else am I supposed to have fun?" Suigetsu questioned innocently.

Sasuke ignored that, and reached for Suigetsu's leg, muttering, "We should check this out. What happened?" But an explanation wasn't needed because as soon as he had ripped away the part of the pant leg that covered his injured leg he saw it. It looked just like his own wound on his arm. Long, bloody gashes caused by zombie nails.

"Oh," Sasuke mumbled. "Yeah," Suigetsu said faintly.

For a moment all was quiet. Sasuke's group and Pein's group simply stood there, but then Sasuke seemed to come alive and he began barking orders at people,

"Karin, take care of his wound the best you can. Juugo, make sure Suigetsu stays off his leg. Shikamaru, get the laptop and lets work some more on the cure. Gaara, come occupy Naruto so he stays away from me." Instantly, everyone was doing as they were told. While others scrambled about Sasuke made his way over to his bag, pulling a notebook out of it where all his formulas and plans and experiment results were written out.

"Shikamaru," He called, gaining the attention of the genius and most of the people in the room, "We came close to getting it right last time. This time I'm sure it will work. We will only have enough for one person though with the limited ingredients, so we will use it on Suigetsu."

Everyone froze. They call cared for Suigetsu, and Sasuke. Suigetsu was the funny, playful one, and Sasuke was the cold, protective one. They each had their good traits and bad traits. It would be hard losing either of them, but they all knew who they truly needed and wouldn't survive without. And that was Sasuke. Sasuke was always the one with the plan; he was the fierce one that protected the group.

"Sasuke," Shikamaru started to argue, explain why that wasn't a good idea, but Sasuke held up a hand, halting his speech.

"The decision is final," he said, giving them a look that said, 'go ahead, I dare you to object, see what happens'.

No one spoke.


	6. Chapter 6

The occupants in the High School's art room were alive with flurried movements. They each had a task and they were getting it done as quickly as possible. Although they all knew they were going to lose Sasuke, they had all silently came to an agreement that it was better to lose one rather than both Suigetsu and Sasuke. Plus, it truly wasn't their decision. Shikamaru helped occasionally with figuring out the cure, but mainly, it was all Sasuke, so if he chose to give it to Suigetsu, how could they object?

"Finally, it's done," Sasuke exclaimed happily, jumping off the stool he had been perched on while mixing things together. To everyone's shock – other than Suigetsu – Sasuke began doing a little dance, sing-songing happily, "I did it, I did it!"

"Congrats, love," Suigetsu murmured sweetly – after he had limped his way to his lover – while sliding his arms around Sasuke's waist from behind when the little dance stopped. Sasuke relaxed into the embrace, a content sigh slipping from his lips. When he was in Suigetsu's arms he could forget his responsibilities, he could forget the ravenous creatures, he could forget his parent's death, and he could forget _almost_ every other painful memory.

All except the memory that he had ran off, letting his brother die, which is why Sasuke quickly removed himself from Suigetsu's arms, not wanting to risk thinking too deeply about it.

Slowly, he went towards Juugo, a serious look on his face. "Take care of her," he said, throwing a pointed look at Karin. A pained look crossed Juugo's face, before he simply nodded, pulling the Uchiha into a hug. The hug only lasted a few moments, but to Sasuke and Juugo it said all the things they weren't willing too. Neither of them was too good with emotions so they were happy with the understanding they had for each other, so words weren't necessary. To the shock of Sasuke's group, they all saw that tears glistened on Juugo's cheek, though they were quickly wiped away by Sasuke's pale hand.

Sasuke gave a sad look to Juugo before he walked towards Karin, wincing slightly as he saw tears also on her face.

"Don't cry. It ruins your beautiful face," He said playfully, wiping away the girl's tears.

"Shut up," She shot back, huffing a bit, before going back to her expression of pain and sadness. "I'll miss you," She informed him pitifully. Sasuke said nothing; he simply pulled her into a hug, which she responded to instantly. After a few moments, he pulled away, and she let him, albeit reluctantly.

As soon as he turned to head towards Naruto he had already been tackled with said blonde clutching him tightly while he sobbed. As he saw the tears rolling down from the big blue eyes and over the scarred cheeks the dam that had been holding back the tears broke and out they came. Naruto and Sasuke clutched each other tightly, Naruto's tears falling from his own cheeks to land and mix with Sasuke's.

Slowly, their tears subsided and they rose to seated positions next to each other. Their eyes locked for a moment and then they were hugging each other again.

"Take care of yourself, Naruto. Try not to be reckless," Sasuke said fiercely, regretting that he wouldn't be there to protect them any longer.

He knew that in a way by letting himself be zombiefied it was making it so he couldn't protect them but at the same time if he just took out as many of those disgusting things as he could before he died, and he got enough supplies for the group, they would be fine to stay in the school for a long time which meant they would be safe.

Leaving Suigetsu and Naruto alone was the thing he was most reluctant to do, because he knew how they both were; reckless and loud, which was extremely dangerous to be for obvious reasons.

"Sasuke," Naruto called, drawing the raven haired boy from his thoughts. Sasuke looked back to him, raising an eyebrow questioningly. The blonde grinned, "Unlike you, I can take care of myself. Those zombies won't get me," he said confidently, letting out a small laugh. Sasuke's response was to cross his arms and glare heatedly at his friend, because he didn't see how it was funny.

He could tell Naruto didn't truly find it funny but he still found himself angry that Naruto was again covering his feelings with fake laughter and fake smiles, and joking about the fact that he had gotten himself infected from the scratch.

Naruto, sensing the growing anger, quickly jumped to his feet, scurrying over to hide behind Gaara. Zombies he could handle, an angry Sasuke was a completely different story. Gaara glowered at Sasuke, also sensing the Uchiha's angry emotions, and stood protectively in front of Naruto.

"Dobe," Sasuke growled, still glaring at the meek blonde.

"Suck it, teme!" Naruto exclaimed haughtily.

"No, no, blondie," Suigetsu began, "Sasuke doesn't suck. I've tried to get him to so many times, but it doesn't happen," He finished, throwing a smirk towards Sasuke, whom never did like sharing information about his sex life.

"Suigetsu, stop." Sasuke warned, turning his glare to his lover instead of his best friend. Suigetsu's reply was another smirk.

Naruto on the other hand had visibly paled, his eyes were wide, and his hands shook slightly as he looked back and forth between Sasuke and Suigetsu. He opened his mouth as if he were going to say something, then shut it again. He repeated the action a few times, and then finally choked out, "So disturbing... Bad mental images."

Sasuke blushed brightly; Suigetsu and the others in the room began laughing like hyena's at the horrified Naruto and embarrassed Sasuke.

"Screw you guys," Sasuke hissed at them, not sure who to direct his glare on. He did note however as he moved his glare to various people that a particular member of the pierced man's group wasn't laughing. He was grateful that at least someone was being mature.

"Take care of him," Sasuke shot at Gaara, getting to his feet and moving towards where Ino and Shikamaru stood, still laughing. To his relief both Ino and Shikamaru tried to reign in their laughter, and once they were noticeably calmer he spoke, "Ino, make sure you keep Shikamaru in line." Ino grinned hugely, nodding enthusiastically.

"Shikamaru, you're a pain, but I love you, you lazy genius." Sasuke said quietly, feeling embarrassed at how emotional he had been since he had been infected, though he guessed it was just because now it didn't matter if they saw his feelings because he would be gone soon anyway.

"Love you too, Princess," Shikamaru smirked.

"Fuck you," Sasuke retorted, turning on his heel and heading for the door, only bringing with him an axe they had acquired recently – though no one really used it – and a knife.

"Wait, aren't you going to take a gun?" Ino questioned, sounding a bit confused.

"I'm not going to waste your bullets," Sasuke replied, giving her a look that clearly showed his low thoughts of her intellectual level.

"Check out front at Sunset, there will be more supplies there. By then I'm sure the infection will have spread enough to make me one of them." He paused, looking around the room at his friends, and the people that he still knew nothing about. Hell, he didn't even know their names, not that it mattered anyway. Finally, he finished what he had been saying,

"I only ask one thing of you. Don't let me live like that. I'll stick around so I'm close by when I'm done being zombiefied, so it will be easier for you to kill me. And, I'm sorry that I'll want to eat you guys." With that, Sasuke left, the door closing loudly behind him.

A sob echoed in the room. All eyes turned to Suigetsu while he just stared brokenly at the door his lover had just exited through.

"Drink up, man," Shikamaru encouraged Suigetsu, grabbing the cup Sasuke had mixed and he held it out to Suigetsu. Said boy just nodded and took it, quickly gulping it down as tears continued trailing down his cheeks.

"Hmm, Sasuke left a note," Shikamaru said suspiciously as he noticed the small sticky note that was stuck to Sasuke's binder, partially hidden by a piece of paper. He grabbed it, and began reading, what it said,

_Shika, I'll make sure to get more of the stuff you need for the cure in case you ever need more.  
Good luck, guys.  
I love you all. Thank you for making me strong, thank you for giving me a reason for surviving.  
-Sasuke Uchiha_


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer;** -_- Do any of you actually think I own anything? Because I fucking don't.

Okay, so someone pointed out to me that they don't see how the fuck this will end up with Itachi/Sasuke, but my response to that is just this;  
_Calm your fucking vagina and wait. I can't just throw Itachi in there and have Sasuke ditch Suigetsu. No. Just no. Sasuke loves Suigetsu, and Itachi doesn't even love his brother in a more than brotherly way yet. Just fucking be patient. This story will be moving at the pace I want. I will put Sasuke with whoever I want before he gets to Itachi. Just wait. My story, my ideas, and if you're so impatient, and you don't like it, then don't read it (though I would prefer people would read this)  
_  
Anyway, on with the story!

* * *

Everyone was quiet for a while, Sasuke's group – now Shikamaru's – because they were grieving, and the pierced man's group out of respect for the others. Finally though, Shikamaru realized they still hadn't introduced themselves to the others, so he stood up, facing the direction of the orange haired man and his friends.

"As you probably know, my name is Shikamaru, this is Ino," he stated, gesturing to his side, while Ino gave a faint wave, "Gaara and Naruto," he continued, indicating the redhead and blonde that sat cuddled together, "Karin and Juugo," both waved, "And Suigetsu," he finished off the introductions.

"We were friends before the whole zombie epidemic. Sasuke rounded us and some others up and at first we stayed in the mall, but then moved to here, and unfortunately we lost some people on the way. That is how we ended up here. If you have any questions, feel free to ask, but for now, your turn," He said, feigning interest although more than anything he just wanted to curl up with Ino and continue mourning his friend.

The pierced man, Pein nodded, and also introduced his group, "I am Pein, this is Konan," the timid blue haired girl smiled politely, "Kakuzu and Hidan," both gave waves at the sound of their names, "Deidara and Sasori," the blonde and redhead were too focused on each other to pay attention to hearing their names, "Kisame," the strange fishlike man grinned hugely, "Itachi," he simply looked up when he heard his name, "And finally, Temari and Kankuro."

Gaara's head quickly turned to look at the two who were now rising, removing their hats that had obscured their faces, while the blonde girl, Temari, smiled warmly, saying to Gaara, "Hello, baby brother." The boy, Kankuro, smiled happily at her side. Gaara rose from his position beside Naruto and went to his siblings, grabbing each by the hand and heading off to the corner of the room to give the illusion of some privacy as he started questioning them.

Pein watched them go, and then turned back to Shikamaru and the others, "We were all friends before this too. I and Konan were together, and slowly over the course of a year we ended up finding the others, and we just stuck together."

Before more could be said, Suigetsu made a gurgling sound then bent over, clutching his stomach as blood spilled heavily from his mouth. He was shaking, and making sounds of discomfort when the blood stopped, and he fell to his knees, just as the blood started up again.

Wide, panicked eyes were on him, and Karin jumped up, grabbing a towel, and water bottle, racing to Suigetsu's side, wincing as she waited for the blood to stop.

With an exhausted sigh, he fell forwards as the vomiting stopped again. He didn't care where he landed, but Karin seemed to because not even two seconds after he had fell face first into the pool of blood, she was pulling him up to help him lean against Juugo who had come over to assist. Wincing again, Karin gently dabbed away the blood that trickled from the corners of Suigetsu's mouth.

Suigetsu slapped away Karin's hand, to which she frowned, but he didn't care. Although she had seemed as if she was trying to be gentle, just that simple touch had sent his pain levels skyrocketing.

Karin's frown worsened as Suigetsu made agonized faces and let out low whimpers. She sniffled slightly, hating that just after losing Sasuke, Suigetsu was now in so much pain, but what was wrong anyway? Maybe some bad side effects from the cure?

Ignoring her thoughts she offered the water to Suigetsu who smiled somewhat gratefully and took it.

"Thanks," Suigetsu said, before letting out a faint whine as the pain he was in worsened.

"Shikamaru? What's wrong with him?" Juugo questioned as he hovered protectively near Suigetsu.

"Probably that cure Sasuke came up with," Shikamaru said hesitantly.

"Did he do it on purpose?" Ino asked, sounding shocked and angry.

As soon as the words were out of the blonde's mouth, Karin, Juugo, Naruto, and Suigetsu were snapping at her,

"Shut up, you blonde bimbo," came from Karin.

"Be careful what you say about Sasuke around me," Juugo's voice held promises of pain in it.

"You barely even know Sasuke, you're only here because of Shikamaru, so don't act like you can assume things like that about him. He's too good of a person to do something like that, especially to the person he loves," Naruto exclaimed, clearly upset that Ino had said that about his best friend.

"Sasuke wouldn't do this to me. It's just some bad side effects." Suigetsu forced out, his anger clear even through his agony.

Ino gave them no response. She simply rolled her eyes, and stalked off to sulk in the corner. Shikamaru watched her go, also feeling a bit angry with her for saying what she had. Karina and Juugo were attentively caring for Suigetsu, and Naruto went to Gaara, needing a distraction, which happened to be meeting Gaara's siblings.

To the relief of the group, Suigetsu finally passed out. Karin and Juugo didn't know how much longer they could handle seeing him in so much pain. It hurt them, and terrified them. What if they lost Suigetsu too? After losing Sasuke, losing another – especially the hyper, fun loving Suigetsu – wasn't something their group could take.

"It's time," Shikamaru stated gravely, rising to his feet.

Everyone knew what he was referring too.

"Juugo, Gaara, come with me. The rest of you, stay," Shikamaru ordered. There were sounds of protests – mainly from Naruto who wanted to come – Shikamaru stuck with his decision though.

"Shikamaru," Pein began quietly, "I would greatly appreciate if you allowed a few of us to come with you, seeing as it is still our fault."

Shikamaru thought about it for a moment, and then nodded slightly.

"Alright," Pein said, seeming relieved, "Konan, Temari, Kankuro, Kakuzu, Hidan, you stay here. The rest of you, come on." The one's who had been told to stay back, said nothing, they simply nodded in acceptance, while the others stood up.

Nothing else was said as Shikamaru, Juugo, Gaara, Pein, Kisame, Deidara, Sasori, and Itachi left the little art room.

They moved quietly through the hallways, all of them wary of what may be waiting for them in the long, dim hallways.

"Okay, we know that Sasuke was extremely lethal before, and even though he's a zombie now we still have to be wary of him. I'm sure now he's just as dangerous as before," Shikamaru warned, sounding worried.

Deidara, the overly confident, effeminate blonde, scoffed, "He's a zombie now. It doesn't matter how he used to be. We can take him, un!"

"Shut up, brat," Deidara's easily irritated redhead lover hissed. In response, the blonde gave him a glare, but conceded.

"Look, what we expect from normal zombies isn't how Sasuke will be. That's why I let you lot come," Shikamaru admitted, shooting pointed looks at, Pein, Kisame, Deidara, Sasori, and Itachi.

"If it was just me, Gaara, and Juugo, even now we would be hesitant in hurting Sasuke. If it came right to life or death, we would be able to take him down, but you guys don't know him on a personal level, he hasn't been the one protecting you for years, so I'm hoping you can take him down, and we won't have to, but I'm also simply worried that we would need larger numbers if we're dealing with Sasuke," He continued, with a frown on his face. No one responded Gaara and Juugo just shared a look, agreeing with what Shikamaru had said.

Finally, the group arrived to the front doors. Hesitantly, they slipped through them, each pair of eyes scanning the area. The front gates of the school were closed, and locked, they could see zombies on the outside, trying to force their way in, their howls of hunger echoed loudly. Fortunately, it seemed there were no zombies inside any more – Sasuke had taken them all out as he had promised – but they were a bit bothered because the one zombie they were looking for didn't seem to be anywhere.

"Where is he?" Shikamaru wondered aloud. Together, the group continued slowly moving forward, the zombies howls were growing in volume, and their furious attempts to get in were even more frantic and desperate.

"Disgusting," Gaara hissed, shooting a look at them. Shikamaru considered pointing out that Sasuke was one of them now, but then decided against it. Gaara's opinion probably wouldn't change no matter who had the same unfortunate fate as the others.

"There," Juugo announced, pointing. Instantly, Shikamaru and Gaara's eyes went to where he was pointing, but it wasn't what they were hoping – and dreading – to see. It wasn't Sasuke. No, it was the supplies he promised. It was four shopping carts full, along with a few backpacks, and there were guns and bullets.

"He would of went through so much to get all that," Shikamaru said softly, feeling somewhat awed by it.

"Does it surprise you? He always did everything he could for us. He probably didn't stop until he absolutely had to." Gaara stated.

"But where is he now?" Juugo questioned, raising an eyebrow as he scanned the nearby area.

"Good question," Gaara said softly, while Shikamaru nodded in agreement.

Just then, over the sound of shuffling feet, and the keening wails, they heard groans of pain. As quick as they came, they were stopped. Shikamaru and Juugo met eyes, and then were running in the direction of the noise, followed quickly by Gaara. The others were slower and more wary but they too followed.

As they moved closer they could see that it was a person, and not just anyone, but it was Sasuke.

"Sasuke?" Juugo's concerned voice called out questioningly.

For a moment all was silent as their group neared the raven haired boy. His hair was messy, and the way he lay on the ground, curled in on himself was obscuring his face from their view, but at the sound of Juugo's voice he turned his face towards them, a look of pain clear.

"Juugo?" He responded weakly. No one said anything back.

Meekly, Sasuke spoke again, "It hurts, make it stop, please." As soon as the words left his mouth, a low groan of pain left his lips again.

Juugo and Shikamaru flinched. Gaara looked away, not liking to see the strong protective friend he once knew being so weak. Even when he had his breakdown, and practically fell apart when he thought Suigetsu had died wasn't as bad as this.

Itachi, who had up until this point, held himself back from comforting his little brother, even when he had been hysterical, couldn't stand it anymore, and he found himself moving from the back of the group to the front, to kneel next to Sasuke and stroke his head soothingly as he asked quietly, "What's wrong?"

Sasuke turned a pair of confused eyes to the stranger leaning over him, but found himself strangely comforted by the gentle touch, and he responded faintly, "It burns, like I'm on fire. Everywhere."

Itachi frowned, thinking back to the memory of how the infection spread. As he had watched his parents go from human to zombie, he didn't remember them telling him anything other than their heads were hurting and they were dizzy. His pondering was interrupted though as Sasuke let out a pain filled scream as he writhed in agony.

"Make it stop! It hurts!"

"Oh god," Juugo mumbled, turning to the side as he vomited. Shikamaru went to his side, gently rubbing the large man's back, but kept his eyes locked on his raven haired friend.

Gaara, who had until that point acted indifferent, couldn't take it anymore and he moved forward, placing himself on the other side of Sasuke as he gently took the pale hand into his own, whispering words of comfort. Shikamaru cast the redhead a brief incredulous look, but soon had his eyes on the pale face again.

His pain filled screams had stopped and were now back to whimpers and groans.

"Shikamaru, what's happening?" Gaara called out, giving off more emotion than any of them had seen from him in the past week.

"I don't know. It should have spread by now. Maybe it hasn't because of him being the test subject for those cure attempts all those times," Shikamaru's reply came quickly.

"Well, just figure something out!" Gaara exclaimed, turning a fierce look to the pineapple haired genius. "Do we kill him to get him out of this misery, or can you do something for him? Can you help him?"

Shikamaru hesitated this time, but nodded slightly, "If he lasted long enough, I could make a new batch of that cure, and we could give it to him. That should probably help."

Juugo, who had been sitting, seeming dazed after his vomiting, now joined their conversation, "We need to save him. He always did so much for him, and now we have a chance to keep him alive, so let's do it." The three shared looks, then Gaara and Shikamaru nodded.

Gaara rose to his feet, then pointed towards the fishy man, "You. Help me carry him,"

Instantly, Kisame was moving, and bending down to grab the writhing boy's legs, while Gaara grabbed him around his shoulders.

"Be careful," Itachi said warningly, his voice promising bloodshed if they caused his brother any more pain.

Shikamaru and Juugo moved towards the supplies, gathering what they could, while Pein, Sasori, and Deidara helped them.

Kisame and Gaara moved as quickly and gently as they could towards the school entrance, and Itachi hovered near them.

Their journey back to the art room was easy and quiet. Sasuke had passed out, which concerned them and had their group moving quicker.

When they arrived at the room and entered to see Karin and Naruto sitting on either side of Suigetsu's pale, unmoving body, with distraught looks on their faces, they knew something was wrong.

"What is it?" Shikamaru questioned concerned, while Kisame and Gaara moved to place Sasuke gently on one of the nearby cots. Itachi instantly took a seat next to the bed, clutching Sasuke's pale hand in his own. Shikamaru, Juugo, Pein, Deidara, and Sasori, moved to place the newly acquired supplies with their other stuff, but Shikamaru and Juugo both froze, dropping the contents in their hands at the words they heard.

"Suigetsu's dead."

"What's going on with Sasuke? Why is he here? You didn't kill him?" Naruto questioned, shooting up from his position on the ground next to Suigetsu to race over to where Sasuke lay, momentarily forgetting that they had just lost someone.

"The infection hasn't spread fully yet. If we can mix the cure quick enough then we could save him, but if it killed Suigetsu then we it's likely to just kill Sasuke too." Shikamaru answered once he had processed what Karin had told him, but then at his realization about the cure, Shikamaru honestly wanted to scream, so that's what he did. He let out a scream of anger, anguish, and frustration. Just as soon as he showed his emotional storm, it was gone again as he went back to his calmer exterior.

"Back off. Give them their space," Pein ordered, beckoning over his team. Nods and words of acknowledgement were given. Soon Pein, Konan, Sasori, Deidara, Kakuzu, Hidan, Kisame, Kankuro, and Temari were all seating themselves to one side of the room. Itachi though, stayed at Sasuke's side.

Ino frowned, choosing to skirt somewhere along the invisible line that separated the two groups. Shikamaru moved to Suigetsu's body, confirming that he was dead, while Juugo went to Karin and hugged her, hoping to comfort her somewhat. She seemed better at learning there was a chance for Sasuke, but actually losing Suigetsu had still hit her hard. Gaara went to Naruto, placing a comforting arm around the concerned, sad blonde.

Shikamaru opened his mouth to say something, but then changed his mind and simply went to work on preparing the cure because it was at least worth a try.

Itachi placed a kiss on Sasuke's temple, his lips lingering as he whispered against the creamy skin, "Wake up, and be okay, please."


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything.

* * *

"It's done," Shikamaru announced, rising to stand from where he had previously been seated. A small vial was in his hand, the liquid sloshed as he raised it to show the others. Itachi lifted his head from where he had been resting with his forehead against the hard grainy wood of a table, his pale hand absentmindedly playing with Sasuke's raven hair. He was relieved, though he didn't show it. During the wait for Shikamaru to be finished, he had time to collect himself, and once again had his blank expression. The only way you could tell the emotional turmoil he was really in would be from his eyes. They told everything if you looked close enough, not that anyone would though because the obsidian eyes were unnerving to most.

"If it killed Suigetsu, how do we know the same won't just happen with Sasuke?" Gaara questioned the thing that had been circling in everyone's mind. Shikamaru sighed, not knowing for sure that Sasuke wouldn't die as well, but wanting be optimistic.

"Well, I believe Suigetsu died because the cure Sasuke created only focused on certain aspects of the virus, so while it kept Suigetsu from being zombiefied after death, it didn't keep the virus from killing him. Other cures that were tested had bad side effects on the body, but if you were zombiefied they would revert you back to normal, but the people always died." He paused, letting everyone absorb what he had just said, before finishing, "But Sasuke tested things many times on himself to see if there would be painful effects on our bodies, and there was which is why we continued working rather than just sticking with the cure we had, but the other cures he tested on his body, combined with him now taking this, gives him a high possibility of surviving. I just didn't realize until now what we needed to do to really perfect the cure. I know now though, I just don't have the time for that, plus, this should work. If Sasuke had the time I know he would have come to the same conclusion I have."

"Shika, for everyone's sake, I hope you're right about this. I don't think any of us can really handle getting our hopes up again only to have them ruined. He especially can't," Gaara stated, looking pointedly down at the blonde who slept fretfully on his lap. He knew Naruto was worrying over Sasuke, and upset over Suigetsu, sleep was supposed to be an escape, but even now, that wasn't working, and Gaara wanted to wake him, but also knew he needed the rest. Naruto pushed himself at everything he did; he would do anything for a friend, and go to any measures to keep them safe – an honorable quality, but also dangerous under the circumstances.

"She can't either. Suigetsu and Sasuke are everything to her," Juugo added, referring to Karin, who lay beside him, asleep like Naruto.

"I don't see why you're all getting so upset about this. It's sad, but not that big of a deal. Suigetsu was an idiot, eventually he would have gotten us all killed, and Sasuke was a jackass."

"Stop it, Ino!" Shikamaru practically shouted as he roughly put the vial down on a table, spinning to look at Ino. "You know just as well as the rest of us that Suigetsu and Sasuke work harder than any of us do. We all do our part, and we try our best, but they always went above and beyond."

"Shik–" Ino began, only to be cut off by Gaara.

"It's best if you were quiet now. If you continue speaking about Suigetsu and Sasuke as you are then I won't hold myself back, and I don't believe anyone else will either." Ino's eyes were wide with fright, Gaara had always terrified her. "Now should be the time that we are helping each other, and doing our best to get through this, so I'm not going to allow you to tear apart the group due to your ill feelings towards Sasuke and Suigetsu."

"Couldn't have said it better myself," Shikamaru agreed. Juugo said nothing, but his demeanor clearly showed he was pleased someone had finally said something to Ino about her depraved comments.

Ino rose to her feet, flipping her long blonde hair over her shoulder, trying to seem indifferent towards them. Her voice trembled though as she spoke, "I need some air. I'll be back." No one replied. Shikamaru simply gave a nod in her direction when he heard her words.

"Now then, let's give this to Sasuke." Shikamaru said, walking towards the limp form of Sasuke.

"He's asleep," Itachi stated, raising his eyes to look at the figure coming towards he and Sasuke.

"Waiting could cause problems," Shikamaru responded unsurely. He wasn't sure what the pale man had meant by that. Was he subtly telling him to wait?

"You're not waking him."

So he was telling him to wait. What was up with this guy being so protective anyway? Did he know Sasuke? Were they related? They looked a bit alike. A cousin maybe?

"I need to give it to him now, but I could give him it as a shot," Shikamaru amended.

"Good," Itachi nodded. The liquid was transferred from the vial into a needle, and Shikamaru moved to Sasuke's side, feeling uncomfortable at the sharp eyes watching him. He flinched slightly as he pushed the needle into Sasuke's pale arm. He wasn't exactly comfortable with giving Sasuke a shot, since he knew of the fear Sasuke had for needles – though it was the better option than dealing with Sasuke's protector.

"And now we wait," Shikamaru said.

* * *

Shikamaru rose from where he had been perched, removing his gaze from Sasuke's form, and heading towards the door.

"Going after Ino?" Gaara questioned him when he noticed the exiting pineapple head.

"No. I think she just needs time alone right now. I'm going to the washroom." Shikamaru said, showing no signs of his deception. Gaara nodded in response. Shikamaru left, heading to the roof.

* * *

The air was cool against Ino's tan skin, and her hair was swaying gently with the breeze. Her eyes were shut tightly, and her cheeks luminous with the moon light due to the tear trails on her cheeks. One of the good features about being at the school rather than somewhere else – there was roof access. A soft sniffle was heard, and she stared down, seeing the herd of ravenous zombies still stubbornly trying to get inside.

"Good luck," she scoffed, knowing she and the others were safe as long as no one forgot to close and barricade the front gate when going in and out. She knew it was selfish but she couldn't find it in herself to care if anyone else was safe, as long as she and Shikamaru were then she was fine with it.

"Ino?" She jumped slightly at the sound of her voice, and almost sent herself tumbling over the edge, but righted herself at the last moment.

"You scared me!" Ino exclaimed, trying to calm her breathing. Shikamaru said nothing; he just walked over and seated himself next to her on the ledge. She glanced over at him, her blue eyes searching his for anything – a sign of what he was thinking, or feeling, or maybe what he wanted – but she found nothing. They simply looked tired.

"Do you need something?" She questioned, her voice unintentionally coming out rudely. Shikamaru didn't seem to notice her tone. "No," he answered. A look of confusion overcame her face. Before she could question him though he was turned to her, bringing a hand up to gently cradle her cheek as his lips met hers. She instantly responded to the kiss. After a few moments they both pulled away, their eyes meeting each other's.

"Ino, I care about you, a lot. Truly, I do." Shikamaru's voice was soft and gentle as he spoke.

"I know, Shika." Ino responded, a warm smile overtaking her face.

"Good. You also know that I do what's best for the group, right?"

"Of course, you always do because you're a good person," her eyes shone with adoration as she gazed at him. Sometimes she wished she could be more like him, she knew she was selfish, and not worthy, but she couldn't change that. The only response she received was a chuckle – a borderline hysterical chuckle that chilled her. He moved from the ledge to stand behind her, placing his hands on her shoulders gently. When she turned her head, her eyes moving to his again, she saw something in them, something strange. She wasn't used to this. Her mouth opened as she went to question if he was okay, but she stopped when she felt his hands tighten on her shoulder..

At first she froze, not blinking, breathing, not doing anything. The look on his face was something she had never even imagined she would see on him.

"You're hurting me," she said softly, her voice trembling slightly. He just smiled then gave a rough shove. She didn't scream, she didn't cry, she didn't flinch, she simply closed her eyes as she fell to the pavement below.

"Bye, Ino," Shikamaru called, his voice echoing in the night wind.

* * *

Quietly, Shikamaru slipped back inside the classroom where the others awaited. Everyone was now asleep, other than the one named Itachi who still sat protectively next to Sasuke, watching intently.

He gave a nod to the raven haired man, receiving no response – not that it bothered him much.

With a soft sigh he curled up, a blanket wrapped around him as he closed his eyes, drifting off peacefully.

* * *

_Okay, so I feel like I'm going to have some annoyed people for having Shikamaru do what he did, but if you want me to explain my reasoning for having that happening then just say so and I will. If enough of you really don't like it, then I might go back and change it. I'm not sure._

Anyway, sorry for the long wait. I'll try to update faster from now on.

Reviews are greatly appreciated.


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